Emergencies

When entire collections are threatened with damage or destruction because
of war and civil unrest, consideration must be given to the evacuation of the
entire collection. Each of the following sections should
be followed as the information is cumulative.

Planning for evacuation and storing duplicates as a precaution

Evacuation of entire collections is a rare and extraordinary event, and one
that must be planned with great precision well before a direct threat and the
actual transportation of materials. This planning involves identifying a place
of refuge for the collection, the form and availability of the transportation
to be used to move the collection, and the main and alternative routes to take.

Also important to consider is proactively storing, at a safe, remote location,
materials in the collection that are already held in duplicate:

 Copies of microfilm. When microfilm is created and processed
according to international standards, three generations of film must be produced:
a camera or archival negative,
a print master negative, and a positive use copy. The camera negative should
always be stored in good environmental conditions at a secure location remote
from the other generations of film.

 Duplicate copies of other materials. Other duplicates should
also be stored remotely as a matter of routine. When national libraries receive
multiple copies of books through copyright arrangements, for example, it seems
sensible not to keep all the copies in one place.

 Theses and dissertations. For degree-awarding academic institutions
that require multiple copies of theses and dissertations, it is equally sensible
to keep the copies in different places.

 Electronic records. As archives and libraries increasingly produce
collection records in electronic formats, duplicates of the data must be produced
and stored in other locations to ensure the survival of the records.

 Common collections. A group of archives or libraries could agree
to remotely store portions of their collections that they hold in common.

Using alarms

Fire and burglar alarms should be monitored on a regular schedule and should
be connected to a fire or police department or a remote guard or security post
manned 24 hours a day. Burglar alarms should be set when the library or rare
book department closes and should include both door and motion alarms. Fire
alarms should be designed to alert the occupants of the building while at the
same time notifying the appropriate emergency services. The most effective
fire alarms for libraries are ionization detectors, since they react to combustion
gases rather than heat, flame, or visible smoke.

In areas that may be vulnerable to flooding (from rain, tank water from the
roof, or rising water from an outside source), water alarms are important.
Water alarms are electronic disks or cables laid onto the floor that are activated
when a circuit is completed by moisture. Like the other alarm systems, water
alarms should produce both an audible warning and a remote alarm to a manned
post.

Supressing fire

Automatic water sprinkler systems are the extinguishing agents of choice for
libraries and archives today. Different types are available, and new ones are
developed frequently. The type attracting the most interest today is a misting
system that uses a fine, low-volume spray emanating from independently operating
flow-control heads. If sprinklers are used, it is essential that a remote alarm
alert a continuously manned post whenever water is discharged anywhere in the
building; such alarms are usually triggered by changes in water pressure.

Gaseous systems cannot be recommended at this time, for several reasons:

 The most popular, Halon 1301
(CBrF3, bromo-trifluoromethane), was effectively banned in most countries
some years ago because of its role in depleting the earth's ozone layer.

 Gases are quickly and fully expelled from their compressed
containers, and if they fail to put out a fire immediately, there is
no reserve extinguisher.

 Carbon dioxide (CO2) is dangerous: it will suffocate any staff
member caught in the area of discharge.

An alternative to gas or water is high-expansion foam, which is said to contain
very little moisture; no such systems are known to be in operation, however.

Library staff should familiarize themselves with all installed systems so
that they can take action if a system malfunctions. All suppressant systems,
including hand-held fire extinguishers, should be inspected and tested regularly.
The library should involve the local fire department in advising and training
staff in the use of fire extinguishers. The library can also use this as an
opportunity to enlist the fire department's services in assessing its emergency
plans.